Claire Adams

From Wikipedia Claire Adams September 24 1898 September 25 1978 was a Canadian silent film actress and benefactor She was born in Winnipeg Manitoba as the daughter of Stanley Wells Adams a Welshborn accountant and his Canadian wife Lillian Adams née Kennedy Educated in Canada and England Claire Adams worked briefly as a nurse with the Red Cross during World War I In 1920 Adams signed a fiveyear contract with Benjamin Bowles Hampton a Hollywood producer and her future husband She later moved to California where she acted in more than forty silent films including melodramas comedies and westerns Described as patricianly beautiful Adams worked with many of Hollywoods leading actors including Adolphe Menjou Tom Mix Wallace Beery and Lon Chaney In 1923 she was Rin Tin Tins leading lady in Where the North Begins which was a huge success and is often credited with saving Warner Bros from bankruptcy She later maintained that Rin Tin Tin was her favourite leading man Her best known film was The Big Parade the second largest grossing silent film in cinematic history It was directed by King Vidor and Adams starred alongside John Gilbert Perhaps her most memorable role came in 1920 as Barbara the artist who helps humanize the crippled crime boss played by Lon Chaney in The Penalty She married film producer Benjamin B Hampton in Hollywood on September 18 1924 They had no children He died in 1932 leaving her very wealthy Later that year Adams met Scobie Mackinnon the second son of LKS Mackinnon at a party in London and three weeks later they married on April 1 in Mayfair They remained childless After a protracted honeymoon in March 1938 Mackinnon brought Adams to Victoria Australia On his death in 1974 Scobie Mackinnons estate was worth A2111 729 which was left entirely to Adams She died on September 25 1978 in Windsor Victoria and was cremated